13 November, 2013

Soft drinks, sugar consumption cause kidney damage

A diet including soft drinks and sugar could negatively affect your kidneys, new research has found. Two new studies highlight the potential negative effects that soft drinks and sugar can have on kidney health. In one study, researchers led by Ryohei Yamamoto from Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, in Japan, found that consuming at least two soft drinks per day is linked with proteinuria – or increased excretion of protein in the urine, which is a hallmark of kidney dysfunction.

Among 3579, 3055, and 1342 university employees with normal kidney function at the start of the study who reported that they drink zero, one, and two or more soft drinks per day, 301 (8.4 per cent), 272 (8.9 per cent) and 144 (10.7 per cent) employees developed proteinuria during a median of 2.9 years of follow-up, respectively.

Another study led by Agustin Gonzalez-Vicente, from the Case Western Reserve University in US, conducted in rats found that moderate fructose intake increases the kidney’s sensitivity to angiotensin II, a protein that regulates salt balance.

This leads to increased salt re-absorption by cells in the kidneys, a finding that might help explain why consumption of high-fructose corn syrup as a sweetener may contribute to the epidemic of diabetes, obesity, kidney failure, and hypertension, researchers said. Results of these studies were presented during ASN Kidney Week 2013 at the Georgia World Congress Centre in Atlanta, US

Source: http://health.india.com

13.11.2013

Aruna Shanbaug in MICU after being diagnosed with pneumonia

Aruna Shanbaug, who was admitted in KEM Hospital in 1973 after she had been raped by a ward boy, was recently diagnosed withpneumonia. Shanbaug, who was a nurse in KEM hospital was admitted to the hospital’s ward 4 in 1973 and had remained there ever since. After being down with pneumonia, she has now been shifted to the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU).

The nurses attending to Shanbaug noticed something unusual about her on Friday. She was having difficulty in breathing, and was put on non-invasive oxygen support. Tests confirmed that Shanbaug was suffering from pneumonia. The doctors attending to her said that she is responding well to the medications.

Early, Aruna was part of a court battle which questioned the legality of euthanasia in the country. In 2010, the Supreme Court had admitted a plea for euthanasia or mercy killing from her friend and journalist Pinki Virani. Though a three-member committee – which examined her medical condition – concluded that she met ‘most of the criteria of being in a permanent vegetative state’, the Supreme Court turned down the mercy killing petition in 2011. The court however said that mercy 

‘The vital parameters are an indicator. They have shown great improvement. Senior doctors are attending to her several times a day, and resident doctors are keeping a watch,’ Dr Shubhangi Parkar, KEM hospital dean told TOI. 

Source: http://health.india.com

13.11.2013

The superior man seeks what is right; the inferior one seeks what is profitable

Confucius